The European Union has announced the release of an additional €250,000 (approximately ₦450 million) in humanitarian assistance to support thousands of internally displaced persons affected by escalating violence in Benue and Plateau States, Nigeria.
This fresh injection of funds will be channeled through the Nigerian Red Cross Society, targeting 2,500 vulnerable households—amounting to about 15,000 individuals—who have been forced to flee their homes over the last four months due to persistent armed attacks.
The support package includes emergency cash transfers, critical household items, basic healthcare, psychosocial services, and improved access to clean water and sanitation. In addition to immediate relief, the initiative aims to bolster protection mechanisms and run health, hygiene, and safety awareness campaigns—especially for women, children, and those displaced multiple times now living in congested and underserved camps.
The humanitarian need is overwhelming. As of July 2025, over 615,000 people remain displaced in Benue State alone, with 65,000 more in Plateau State. Many are subsistence farmers cut off from their farmlands during the crucial planting season. Most now shelter in overcrowded camps or informal settlements, struggling with severe shortages of food, potable water, medical care, and security.
This latest funding is part of the EU’s contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) under the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), aimed at responding swiftly to urgent needs in smaller-scale but severe emergencies.
In July, the EU also provided €500,000 (approximately ₦886 million) to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to address immediate humanitarian needs of displaced populations in Benue over a six-month period.
Violence in Benue and Plateau States has continued unabated, driving a protracted protection crisis and deepening humanitarian emergency, with new security threats surfacing weekly.
The European Union, alongside its member states, remains the largest humanitarian donor globally. Through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), the EU delivers life-saving assistance to millions of people each year, driven solely by humanitarian needs.
The EU has also signed an €8 million humanitarian delegation agreement with the IFRC to replenish the DREF—a mechanism established in 1979 to support quick-response relief in smaller-scale disasters that may not trigger formal international appeals.
As Nigeria grapples with growing displacement, insecurity, and resource scarcity, sustained international support like that of the EU remains critical to alleviating suffering and upholding the dignity of the most vulnerable.
